About

Union County, North Carolina is a great place to work, play and raise a family. My family and I have been very happy to call this our home for the past 6 years. Many years ago I was heavily invested in the bicycle industry, worked in a bike shop and as a race mechanic for a local team. Family and career ended my participation in the sport, that was about 18 years ago. In March of 2006 I was able to return to a sport/recreational activity that I enjoy very much. It was a hard road back, but now I consider myself a “Cyclist” and not just someone who rides a bicycle!

My daughter and I can be seen riding through the more scenic parts of Union County on Sunday afternoons on our 2005 Cannondale Tandem. I am usually out several days a week riding my PedalForce RS.

If you have any comments or suggestions about this site feel free to use the Contact form. I cannot guarantee a personal response to every email I get, but I do read them and will consider them honestly.

I hope that this site will be a valuable resource to the cycling community here. We are not affiliated with any bicycle shop in the area and as such we have more latitude in expressing our opinions. I hope you will feel that freedom also. Please feel free to let us know what you like about The Incidental Cyclist and what you would like to see improved, as with any blog site, it is the contributors that make it what it is and we are open to suggestions. As always have fun and keep the rubber side down.

History

About 20 years ago I was an avid cyclist and amateur racer. I was never really very good, except for a few disciplines such as time-trialling and descending. I spent most of my time riding recreationally. About 18 years ago some things in my life changed and I gradually moved away from cycling and let those things take over my entire life.

I was married, with a small daughter, my family meant more to me than anything in the world. I gave up the one passion that I had outside of my family, that was cycling. Over the years, a sedentary lifestyle with little or no physical activity, weight started to pile on. By the time I reached my early forties I was approaching 300 pounds! In the summer of 2005 I was even heavier, recording my highest weight of 347 pounds.

I needed to do something about this. My doctor had already shortened my life expectancy by 15 years. I was hypertensive, diabetic, had high cholesterol, obstructive sleep apnea and was starting to suffer from joint pain. At the time I was just asking the doctor to treat the symptoms but not the cause. By fall 2005 I decided a drastic change was needed, so after researching and talking to my doctor, I told her that I wanted to have Gastric Bypass surgery. She agreed it would be a good idea.

In January 2006 I underwent the Gastric Bypass procedure. How does this relate to cycling? The answer is in what my daughter asked me to do just prior to my surgery. It seems that without my knowledge, my daughter actually listened to some of the stories I used to tell about my days cycling, and to the phone conversations I had with some of my old cycling buddies back in Oregon. She approached me while I was in my office and said, “Dad, you know all those cycling stories you and Bob talk about on the phone, I want some of those stories too!” What a shock, it put me in tears. I did not know how to react, I was preparing for the biggest test of my life and cycling was the furthest thing from my mind.

I told her that I would try but that she would have to help me. Mind you I was still about 325 pounds at the time. So we spent some time talking about it and decided that the only way it would happen is if she and I rode together. At that point is when we bought our first new bike. It was a 2005 Cannondale Tandem. I know that a tandem is a strange purchase for a first new bike in 17 years, but I just wasn’t sure how committed by daughter would be to help me or the even cycle in general. The tandem arrived and all we could do was clean it and look at it. I still had surgery and recovery, and I needed to lose weight before I could ever get on the bike.

In the mean time, to pass the hours post surgery, I bought a Titanium frame and parts to build up a new single bike. We also bought my daughter a new single bike from BikesDirect.com, a Motobecane Le Champion SL. Two months post surgery I was already down 50 pounds from my high of 347, another 2 weeks past and I was down just under 280 pounds. I took my first spin on the Ti bike, just around the block a few times. Total of two miles. I was exhausted, but exhilarated at the same time! It was the first time in 17 years I had ridden a bike! With a lot of effort I managed to ride about 1600 miles in 2006. This year I will have 4000 miles before December 31st. I was also able to complete The Assault on Mount Mitchell on June 11, 2007, and I have done 4 other century rides this year.

Hows my health now, Well I am down to 200 pounds, my last blood workup showed a cholesterol level of 88, triglycerides which were at a high of nearly 500 were also down to 88. My blood pressure is now rock steady in the 110’s/70’s. My diabetes is gone, and my sleep apnea is much better, although not completely cured. I eat much healthier and I feel like a new person. I am in the best shape of my life and enjoying every minute of it.

It is an incredible opportunity I have been given, a second chance at life on a bike, and this time I get to spend it with my daughter! You will see us at many rides in the Union County area, Sunday is our ‘Tandem Day’ and other times on our single bikes, look for us and say hello.